China's Xi Targets Economy

BEIJING—China's new leader, Xi Jinping, appeared to signal a commitment to further liberalizing the economy, and establishing a more accessible public image, when he made his first official visit as Communist Party chief to Shenzhen, the southern city that was an incubator for market reforms over three decades ago.

Mr. Xi's weekend visit was seen by many observers as a conscious emulation of a trip there in 1992 by Deng Xiaoping, then...